Word: algebraical
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...nationwide exam, sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America, tests individual students' abilities to solve problems in algebra, geometry, and calculus at an advanced level. The test is divided into two three hour sections, and consists of 12 questions requiring written proofs...
...example, created an electronic periodic table for use in his general chemistry classes. Another chemist, Allan Smith, designed a "molecular editor" that can display, rearrange and rotate crystal structures made up of as many as 99 atoms. Mathematician Bernard Kolman created a program that will solve complex matrix algebra problems and explain each step along the way. Electrical Engineer Banu Onaral developed a series of programs that generate wave forms on the screen and manipulate them according to the basic rules of signal processing. "These are very theoretical subjects that require some brain gymnastics to be understood," says Onaral...
...immigrants are an insistent presence. A single cluster of 14 brown brick stores in New York City harbors a Korean beauty parlor, a Chinese hardware store, a South Asian spice shop, a Chinese watch store and a Korean barber. At a high school on Chicago's Far North Side, algebra classes are conducted not only in English but in Spanish, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Assyrian. Along Bolsa Avenue in Santa Ana, Calif., virtually every sign for more than a mile is in Vietnamese: Vietnamese supermarkets, bookstores, pharmacies that deal in rare herbs. Ten years ago, nothing was there but warehouses...
...middling muddler, whom the Review nicknames Joe Bloggs. Thus the square root of 4 is no good for the middle-to-hard portion of an SAT, since anyone may guess the right answer to be 2. But the square root of 9 is perfect: easy if you know your algebra (the answer: 3), hard if you don't, and about a 50% guessing shot for Joe, whose chances may be reduced by a deceptive, tempting answer that E.T.S. calls a "distractor." A typical distractor in the stickier part of a math section was set up by this question: A literary...
...sort of bombshell. Its mathematicians announced that they had factored a 69-digit number, the largest ever to be subjected to such numerical dissection. Their triumph is more than an intellectual exercise. It could have far-flung repercussions for national security. As anyone who has ever passed through intermediate algebra knows (or once knew), factoring means breaking a number into its smallest whole-number multiplicands greater than 1. For example, 3 and 5 are the only such factors of 15. But as numbers get larger, factoring them becomes increasingly difficult. Until recently, mathematicians despaired of factoring any number above...